The night was young and just beginning, yet the thick fog that would be a predecessor to heavy rains had already begun to settle in for the night. He grinned as he looked out from his preach, gazing upon the sleepy city of Roma as people hurried into their homes. It was a perfect night to hunt. And he planned on doing just that. "Looks like the wolf gets his day after all," he said to himself as he leaped into a hay stack and waited for his prey to stumble ever closer.
Malfatto was just getting started on his own hunt and prey. The women whose jobs sought them to stay out in the unnatural fog were of his most favored variety. His mask hiding his sadistic grin and his pouch of poisons hidden inside his jacket, he approached the curvy blonde he had been watching for the past hour as she stood at the corner of a building. "Care to help me Madonna?" he asked as he bowed and extended his hand. "I do believe I need some medical assistance and only one as lovely as you will cure my aliments."
The courier rushed through the empty streets, even guards had chosen to abandon their posts. He came to the small doorway hidden in an alleyway. He slipped a letter under the door and hurried off to his next destination on the other side of the populated city. The sooner he delivered the letters and returned to his Master, the sooner he could insure his newborn son's safety and return to his family life as a simple farmer.
He turned the corner and ran into something solid, causing him to stumble back and fall. His breath caught suddenly in his chest as he saw the gleam of a hidden blade snapping together. He crawled back in vain, knowing it was far too late and he was going to die. He held out the letter and gulped as it was snatched from his hand. "Your new assignment Master Lupo," his voice cracked with fear. All he heard was the sound of a soft chuckle through the sounds of his choking.
As dawn slowly crept up on the horizon, Malfatto sat at his small desk reading the letter he found under his door, his mask and hat resting next to his bloodied syringe and empty vials of fast acting poison. A grin spread across his face as he read the orders and neatly folded the letter up; tossing it in his fire place so no record would ever be found.
Lupo sat crossed legged behind a building as mid-day reigned high in the sky all while the sun remained hidden by a blanket of clouds, basking in the cool damp air that wouldn't relinquish the scent of his hunt or the chill of his victory. He licked his lips and looked about as he quickly broke the seal and opened the letter, almost dropping it in his haste. His lips quickly fell from there cocky smirk to a scowl that more resembled the snarl of his name-sake.
As night saw the same fog rolling in and people settled down for another dreary night indoors, Lupo watched his prey with a slight discomfort. "She is very beautiful," Malfatto commented as he gazed through her cracked window. "I would love to see what makes her tick." Lupo rolled his eyes and continued watching as the she undressed and readied herself for bed, the soft candlelight flickering over her pale skin, giving her face an ethereal glow.
He licked his lips as her dress and slip fell away from her body. He could'nt help but to agree with Malfatto, Amelia de Luca Moretti was more than a simple noble woman; she resembled that of a goddess. Her intellect and her beauty made her a greatly sought after prize by many men wishing to rise in the social ranks of Roma. He was truly sad that she had to die, but he was going to enjoy the view while it lasted.
"Watch her, study her habits and her daily life with Malfatto. When the time is right, make sure she an accident. Use any means necessary to see that her life comes to a fast and messy end. Killing Amelia will show that we know where the assassins are getting their funding, regardless to if she has any idea or not as to her family's business."
Malfatto sat back leaning against the wall of the adjacent building. "Are you always this quiet and awkward to be around?" Lupo just looked back at him, a soft but audible growl rising in his throat. The doctor just shook his head, his mask hiding his smirk. "At least you're efficient enough." Lupo turned back to his prey only to find her gone from his viewpoint. "Why don't you go see where she…" Malfatto began. The prowler had already covered the distance of the buildings and was slowly creeping in her bedroom window.
He searched through the drawers of her vanity and nightstand. Old letter from past lovers and a diary littered the insides while powder and perfumes littered the outside. Lupo slid the leather bound diary in his jacket and glanced back as Malfatto silently slipped in to join him. "She has nothing important but has had many hopeful courters. I'm sure with how pristine her family is, she has remained a virgin though. Bad news for you cause she isn't a whore," he grinned as he watched the doctor turn his head up from a stack of papers. "I can almost see the scowl on your face."
Days passed with both men hunting and watching her. Their master had granted them the permission of taking their time and as a result, Malfatto saw it fitting to approach and attempt to court. Amelia, slightly taken off guard that someone other than a nobleman had approached her seeking a courtship, was somewhat amused and agreed to spend some time everyday with the doctor at the markets.
Lupo watched from the distance with a sense of disgust as Malfatto took a more direct approach learning about her. As the days went on though, he quickly learned from his own observations that the 'good' doctor was learning no more than he was by waiting in the shadows.
Her routine was just that, daily and better then clockwork. She rose every morning just before dawn and spent an hour getting ready, dressing herself, fixing her own hair and makeup, making sure she smelled as good as she looked. She ate breakfast with her family and spent the next 4 hours learning various activities from playing the harp and violin to chess with her eldest brother and sewing with her mother and sisters. She would leave to eat lunch with her friends and go walking around the market as they shopped for an hour. She had added an extra hour in the markets walking around as she talked with Malfatto and would return home by mid afternoon. She spent the rest of her evening studying and reading, learning all things from math and art to astronomy and science, and reveled at any new book she received as a gift reading them over and over. As dinner came around she would ready herself by touching up her hair and makeup, changing clothes if needed and would descend from her room to join family and friends as her parents entertained Roma's nobility with stories and gossip where she would on occasion play the harp or violin. After that, she excused herself and went back to her room to get ready some rest, where she replied to any letters or would search for a missing journal before undressing and wrapping herself up in lush blankets and quilts to go to sleep.
Lupo found it hard to listen on the conversations when she played her instruments. The sound poured from the windows down to him, washing him in an unfamiliar relaxation that he had long since forgotten. He would set and listen quietly, the rest of the world drown out in a single symphony that made him sadder each day knowing Malfatto would strike first and bring her life to an end.
A month had passed by as though it was only an hour. Amelia sat at a courtyard snacking on the gift of an exotic fruit Malfatto had brought for her. She listened to him tell tales of the various origins and mythologies surrounding the small sweet seeds she ate. "The pomegranate is by far one of the most intriguing of fruits as it has such healing abilities in those tiny seeds," Malfatto purred softly as he watched her eat each one with a smile on her face as he changed subjects to his medicine practices. She couldn't see the twisted smile spread across his face and the wicked gleam in his eyes.
Lupo saw passed the façade. He got up from his spot and blended into the crowd, his simple nobleman attire making him seem like he blonged. He walked past the couple on the bench and into the city crowd. As night came on and the fog rolled in, he sat by candlelight flipping through the pages of her journal again. He re-read various entries of how her day took an unexpected turn or how an argument upset her. He finally sat down the small book and frowned as he snuffed out the flames of his candles and pulled up his thin blankets. He didn't want to sit in her room watching her sleep, feeling despair set in as Malfatto would enter the room and join him to tell him of fantasies he had tormenting and torturing her before he finally killed her.
The courier ran through the empty streets sliding the letters under the doors of the doctor and the prowler. Both men were out hunting other prey to ease their mind. For Malfatto, he needed to find someone less interesting then Amelia to talk to and kill so when he finally killed her it was all the sweeter. Lupo sat perched over the city in a high tower watching a petty novice assassin stalk a Borgia captains' post waiting for its leader to return. He needed to take his mind off the inevitable and undeniable truth that he didn't want Amelia to die.
Both men slid through the night with ease and silent efficiency. Moving through the fogged streets and spaced out lands. Their minds both cluttered with their recent kills, current prey, and Amelia. They easily over took their targets and settled on the ground for a minute next to their victim. On one end of the city a muffled cry escaped as a woman felt her neck snapping under the weight of someone's arms and hands twisting her while another woman purred softly into her lover's ear before feeling a pinch and falling limp on her bed, her body paralyzed but her senses on fire as she tried to scream when the searing pain of a scalpel cut into her stomach.
Each sat there in silence, one covered in blood from the thrill and one covered in sweat from the hunt, a soft chuckle escaping both men's lips. "No," Lupo whispered to his dead victim. "I want to see what makes him tick."
The next day came and went faster then it needed to. All attempts at warning the de Luca Moretti of their daughters impending death proved to fail miserable as the door was slammed in his face over and over again. Malfatto watched with a soft smile hidden by his mask before he turned and retreated home to ready himself for dinner with Amelia's family. "Won't mother and father be so proud of me now, dinning with the wealthiest of nobility and courting the city of Roma's finest lady," he said under his breath. "And the Borgia, well they will love me as their traitor dies with Roma's finest lady."
Lupo watched the doors and windows of the home, waiting for something to happen, someone to exit. The windows to Amelia's room were wide open as he watched her step in with a man. "My father would be so furious if he knew you were still here Malfatto," she giggled as he followed her into the room and looked around as though he had never been inside.
"Malfatto?" he gasped as he listened clinging to the walls just beside her window. "No, I can't warn her now." He peered in to see her standing motioning with her finger for him to come closer. "You aren't like any other man I have seen before and certainly treat me better than them all." She pulled him closer, unaware that his syringe was in his hand as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.
Lupo saw the soft tensing of her muscles as pricked her. Her body fell limp in his arms and she let out a soft gasp as he caught her. "Now, now my dearest, we must be careful that no one else knows your missing for many days." He grinned sadistically, "Or at least that they don't find you." Malfatto chuckled as he saw Lupo enter the room. He picked her up and placed her over his shoulder. "I'm sorry my friend but I got here first and therefore reap the rewards of the kill." His hands squeezed and lightly slapped her butt. "And oh how rewarding this is going to be. Sleeping with a virgin and killing her in the same night. How exciting?"
he slipped out the front door as ran down the hallway with her. Lupo knew where he was going to go and simply jumped out the window and ran for the small abandoned building on the outskirts of the city. "Rewarding indeed," he said with a smirk on his face. "I haven't been this thrilled at the hunt in ages."